Better understand organic cosmetics
Are you interested in this Blog? It is, a priori, that you consider the BIO certification of cosmetic products very important to you. That's good, so do we! So much so, that we have planned to make this post in several parts to treat the subject properly.
It's not always easy to understand the difference between conventional cosmetics, natural cosmetics and certified organic cosmetics. By exchanging with the Poulettes community, we have indeed noticed it.
Everyone is talking about Green Beauty. Natural active ingredients are more than ever put forward. Controversies concerning preservatives are a subject known to the general public...
And yet, ORGANIC still remains a rather confidential category in the world of hygiene and beauty. To date, organic cosmetics still only represent 5% of total cosmetics sales.
You are therefore part of aSelect club of consumers (still a minority, but demanding and committed). And we thank you for that!
Some regulatory concepts:
In Europe, cosmetic products must comply with the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 (and its various amendments).
Cosmetic regulations are in fact adapting to the evolution of our knowledge in terms of health and to our ethical and environmental choices.
The ban on animal testing in Europe is, for example, quite recent when you think about it: 2013. And that of certain parabens (such as isobutyl or phenyl paraben) only dates from 2014. Methylisothiazolinone (MIT), a preservative responsible for many cases of chronic allergic eczema, disappeared from the composition of leave-on products in 2017. As for D5 (also known as Cyclopentasiloxane), it is a silicone that cumulates the status of endocrine disruptor and the characteristic of being bio-accumulative (boouuuh) . It is therefore non-biodegradable and damages the oceans (Re boouuuh). It was banned in January of this year 2020. The fishes are wriggling with happiness and so are we.
Let us specify that Europe has a list of 1300 prohibited ingredients. While in the USA, there are only... 30. So we are not so bad off on this side of the Atlantic, after all.
That said, it is your body that is at stake. So you have the right to demand maximum safety from your products. The "You have to suffer to be beautiful" is completely outdated, Poulette's word.
The precautionary principle of BIO: never too careful
However, the European law still authorizes many ingredients that are considered undesirable by different organizations or consumer associations. This is notably the case of many preservatives considered as potential endocrine disruptors. This will undoubtedly evolve but in the meantime, to avoid taking risks, it is a good idea to turn to organic products.
Indeed, the BIO labels that certify our products (Ecocert and Cosmos Organic) advocate the precautionary principle.
They impose on certified organic brands, such as Les Poulettes Paris, standards that are much stricter than current regulations and therefore prohibit the following ingredients or families of ingredients
But why are non-Organic brands still using controversial ingredients?
You will ask us: if these substances are potentially dangerous or polluting, why don't all brands oblige themselves to avoid them, independently of the BIO label?
Very good question.
One of the reasons for this is that it is difficult to formulate an effective preservative system using only a limited range of BIO-approved preservatives. In addition, these raw materials are more expensive!
For example, in conventional cosmetics, a good dose of phenoxyethanol (easy to produce, cheap and radical against many bacteria) and the trick is almost done.
Please note:
Ethanol (basic alcohol, the same as in your favorite cocktails) is authorized in BIO. It is not dangerous, toxic or polluting but at Les Poulettes Paris, we consider it potentially drying for the skin, so we also prohibit it in the formulas of our face masks certified Organic and Made in France. For the aperitif on the other hand, we do not say no!
Certified organic care, Made in France
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